Holiday Feeding

This week Inchanga Primary School is on holiday. After several weeks of strikes there was a chance that this week would be taken up to make up for lost time. Then the Government decided they should close for holiday after all. They are only off for a week.

My sister Liz and friend Anita are visiting these 2 weeks (more about that in a minute) and they came with me to give the '40' kids some food to see them through the holiday. We went to Makro and bought the usual Maize meal, sugar beans, soya mixture etc and a few 'luxuries' such as a bag of cheese crisps each.

We went in to the school on Thursday morning and gave out the food parcels. Despite the crowd of eager pupils gathering round the car and pressing in for something, I managed to identify my '40' and we gave out a total of 30 bags of food. Not bad for the end of term. Not all kids make it in on the last day of term so I was happy with that. Unfortunately the rest of the kids had to be chased back by one of the teachers with a big stick and it was impossible to give out the rest as there was not enough. However, every orphan in the school would have been given a bag of porridge from another donation so nobody went home empty-handed.

I'll put up some photos as soon as my laptop is fixed. Yesterday it died somehow, I think the powerpack has broken but unfortunately it looks like you can't just buy a new one here in South Africa. Tomorrow my mission is to solve this problem... it's an urgent one as ALL my files are locked on there and I'm currently having to borrow Steve's laptop to update this (without all my photos ;-((( )

Sithembakuye - The new house

We said that Russell and Precious would not be able to keep out of their new house once we left the country and we were right! It was great to see yesterday what they've done with the place.

Lionsraw built this house from nothing and they still need to link up the electricity, water and put in the kitchen and bathroom, but apart from that, it was almost ready for moving in.

The Sithembakuye family have moved in, although some of them are still sharing beds until they get new bunk beds at some point in the not too distant future. The nice people at Pentravel came to paint and are coming back to finish the job soon. Everyone is overjoyed at the new place and the kids especially are excited about their new rooms.

Up till now about 12 kids were sleeping in a very small room and it was extremely cramped. Look at how many teddies they have for a start! ;-) Now these kids are shared out in 3 rooms with the boys having their own room for the first time in their lives. It is awesome to see how this new home is turning out. No one can be more excited or happy than Russell and Precious themselves, you can't wipe the smile off their faces these days!

Best of British...

Despite the ridiculous set up at Birmingham Airport, where you have to pay for a trolley now if you want one when you collect your baggage, which was extremely irritating after 15 hours of travel, I had a great time in the UK. I spent most of the time meeting up with family and friends and trying to chill out and also think about my future. It was a busy but happy time.

To begin with, I went down to Cornwall with my parents for a week of complete 'holiday'. The rain didn't disrupt too much and we had a lovely time visiting several National Trust gardens, the beach, St Ives and discovering some really fantastic food places too. I'm liking the 'Great British Food' industry that has sprung up and developed over the past few years. Particularly good were the meals at Trevaskis Farm outside of Hayle. We also loved the jacket potatoes at the cafe at Trengwainton National Trust Garden. Try it and love it too.

Back in the Midlands from Cornwall and it was time to catch up with many friends. Kath, who I met in SA, came down and we had a very enlightening time at Warwick Castle. It never ceases to amaze me how the people who run that place can alter it every year so that it's still interesting! The jousting was good. (see photo). I mean, what's not to like about grown men in medieval costume playfighting on horseback? There was the usual pantomime atmosphere in the park as we enjoyed that show. The powers that be at Warwick have also totally redesigned the 'Edwardian Weekend Party' Exhibit so that it doesn't just introduce us to the characters but now gives us an in depth look at all the scandal of the day as we now know who was messing around with whom. It was quite shocking to realise that morals seemed to go right out of the window during weekends like those. However, I must have seen that exhibit over 10 times and this is the only time I've actually remembered any of the names! (And that's why HEAT magazine is so popular... I guess ;-) )

I managed a trip to London to see friends there and enjoy a few meals out in Covent Garden, which was great. We also had some excellent dinner parties at home with various couples who have supported me over this past year. I spoke at a couple of churches and it was great to see so many people at my tea and talk at St Paul's in Leamington.

My village church had a cheese and wine evening, which was brilliant fun and I even won something on the raffle (Gotta love raffles!). Mum and Dad took me to their Folk Dancing group as well and that was surprisingly good fun, and thankfully I didn't dream about square sets afterwards!

Thank you to all the people who donated money to me during my time in the UK. It was great to meet up with so many people, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

Back in South Africa!

It would appear the strikes are over, at least for the moment. We arrived back in South Africa this evening and over the next few days I can find out what's been going on. First of all, though, I need to pack and most of all I need to SLEEP!!

Everything seems ok at the house, apart from the heat that has built up over the past month which makes sitting here quite unbearable. No critters in the house though, which is great!

and the strikes continue...

Apologies for my absence, I am in fact currently on holiday in the UK and enjoying a relaxing time of catching up with family and friends. I return to South Africa on 15th September.

Meanwhile, in SA the strikes continue to cripple the country. I received a phone call from the Headteacher of Inchanga School this week to inform me that the 'stay away' is still continuing. They had hoped that a resolution would be reached this week but it appears that this is not going to be the case. The schools have now been shut for over 3 weeks. All this takes its toll on the children, who actually want to be in school and come every day to see if it might be happening!

Pray for a resolution to be reached and for good talks between the Unions, government and all involved. It's not just teachers and schools affected, also hospitals are being assisted by volunteers and army medics as the staff there 'stay away'.

After the exuberance of a glorious World Cup, the mood of the nation has been brought down with all this action. Issues certainly need addressing and let's hope and pray that they are addressed and resolved as soon as possible.

Kids' Club - more penfriends

Today most of the government-run schools in South Africa were closed as the teachers went on strike over pay issues. We're awaiting to see when they will reopen but it doesn't look like a resolution will be reached very easily.

In the meantime, many many children will go hungry as they are used to being fed at school. It's really unsettling for them as they don't know when they'll be back in school for breakfast and lunch, not to mention the education that the kids are missing out on.

Let's pray that the government listen to the public servants and this strike doesn't cripple the country, as is extremely possible at this time.

Ekhaya - home visits

Finally on Monday I managed to start visiting the homes of my children officially.

I took a teacher from the school as interpreter and general bodyguard and went with 2 sisters to visit their home. Their carer was at work so I couldn't get certain information but it was good to see where they lived and to find out a bit more about them.

The girls live in the area not far from the school which is about 10 minutes walk across the soccer field. The whole area there is a minefield of illegal electrical wires and they live about 3 houses away from where Sanele was killed. Right outside their home there is a post with electrical cables up high and a red wire obviously tapping into the power, blatently on show. Some people have got official electricity whereas others have lost it because they didn't pay their bills. maybe it's these people who are stealing it. After all, they have the power boxes in their houses and it makes it easier to just tap into what is all around them...

Anyway, where the girls live there are all sorts of houses. The view over the valley is incredible, but I expect they don't see that the same way as I do. To them it's just normal, the valley. I wonder if they ever pause to admire the beautiful creation laid out in front of them?

Most of the homes in this area are wattle and daub mud huts, like the Elizabethans used to build back in the day. Inside their home it might look a bit higgledy-piggeldy but it feels warm and organised. It's a proper home despite the somewhat rugged exterior. The girls sleep in the main room in a decent sized bed that they share and there's a small sofa, chairs and a kitchen area as well as neatly presented ornaments all around. There is no doubt that the carer is using whatever she has to give these girls a decent home, despite having very little. You have to look beyond the exterior poverty and see the love that is shared within this community. Some people just see a crumbling building but I see warmth, care and love. And this is all good.